Enter Dum Dum Donutterie - opened quite recently in Boxpark, they do baked doughnuts. By baking and not frying they eliminate a lot of the fat, and quite a few calories - much like a Goldfish cracker versus a Dorito. You probably didn't need an analogy at all, but you got one. This is Creamy Steaks, there will be reaches and analogies, and you're gonna love it!
Anyway, I started following them on Twitter as I'm intrigued by any-and-all doughnuts and they're actually quite near my office, as well. Reports of them selling out crazy-fast abounded.
On one blustery Tuesday I made the trek over to Boxpark, hoping that they'd still have some left. It was around 1:00, so prime lunchtime, and I was surprised by the variety still available. I think after the initial few days they must've gotten a real handle on stock and what to expect, so don't be discouraged if you can't make it to their location in the morning - at lunchtime there were still plenty of doughnuts to go around.
I should've taken a picture inside, as it's a very nice looking shop - colorful but clean and a very well presented counter. The color follows through on the box, which is a nice touch! It's a permanent location as well. I was a bit worried as Boxpark hosts a lot of pop-ups, but Dum Dum is meant to be around until Boxpark itself folds up.
It was quite difficult to choose which flavors, as there are quite a few and they all sound good. No, really - they all sound good. Usually there is at least one stinker in the bunch when you're making over say, 5 varieties. So it is worthy of note that all the flavors are exciting & different, or sound like a particularly good version of a classic.
In the end I went with one 'plain' doughnut and one DumDum Cronut (sounds like such an insult) in the flavors Banoffee and Almond Creme & Pistachio.
The plan was to split them with my husband so we both got to try a bit of each - next time, I think I'll just get four...or two, and not tell him about it. By the time I finished my half of both of these, I was wishing I had more.
We had the Banoffee variety first, which was topped with dulce de leche frosting and cookie crumble. Inside is custard & banana puree. The banana flavor is much stronger than I thought it would be, in a very good way. I think nice, ripe bananas were used and they didn't skimp on the puree. The custard makes everything creamy and sweet, and the dulce de leche frosting makes for an excellent "offee". Both the custard & the frosting were ample, and incredibly fresh tasting even after a few hours out.
The filling and the topping were amazing, and I never would've guessed that it was a "healthier" doughnut based on them.
Now, the thing is when you take the frying step out of doughnut making, it's going to be a bit different. It is a big part of what makes a doughnut a doughnut, and while it was still very tasty it was a bit more like a sweet bun than a fried doughnut. That's too be expected though - I mean, it isn't fried! I'd say unless you are an absolute doughnut purist, you're going to be perfectly happy with the slightly different texture and feel of these. In some ways, I actually preferred the baked.
It was much less greasy and the doughnut itself seemed less sweet - which makes the filling more easy to appreciate. Mostly it was a matter of texture, and frankly I more or less inhale fried doughnuts so it was nice to be able to sort of savor & chew for once. Like I said, unless you're a fried nut yourself you should be happy with a bit of a change.
So, we went to bed with visions of doughnuts dancing in our heads, for we knew we had a cronut to split in the morning. I might've had some fondant topping before bed. Keeps away nightmares.
This was the one I was most excited about, I nearly just ordered two of these: One, it's a cronut. I'm still into that. Two, it was almond cream & pistachios...I'll never not like that.
I didn't get an interior picture of this one, I'm sorry to say. I really ate it that fast - also I was on my way to work. You can sort of see a bit of cream where the fondant is absent, though! It was abundant.
I have no idea if cronuts are always fried or not. EIther way, these still have about the same texture as any other cronut I've had. Flaky, soft, with a bit of a crispness on the outside - I'd say these were actually an improvement over the Cocomaya cronut, which was more dense & cakey than the Rinkoff.
The filling was subtle and so creamy, like a delicate almond cream whipped just enough to hold it up. The pistachios on top were small & easily chewed, and the fondant topping was very sweet (as you'd expect) and when you got a bite with the almond cream & fondant together it was like creamy marzipan. I was a huge fan of this, really one of the most ambrosial things I've ever eaten before noon. Since I was still a bit bleary-eyed and yawny, I really want to give this another try and do a more proper rundown.
However, in the interest of variety I'd probably try the Croconut next - coconut buttercream (stop there, already sold) with dark chocolate & coconut sprinkles. I'm definitely into that. If you're visiting Boxpark or Shoreditch in general, you absolutely should make it over to Dum Dum Donutterie. Or if you have an office in London, I think they'll be doing deliveries soon. The value isn't bad at all for a luxury baked good, box of 9 is £12 so if you have a smallish office you can delight them all for under £15. Considering just a dozen Krispy Kremes will run you around £10 these days, it ain't half bad.
No comments:
Post a Comment